Effectiveness of digital tools for smoking cessation in Asian countries: a systematic review

Figures & data

Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram of study selection.

Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.

Author	Year	Country	Intervention Type	Control Group	Intervention to the Experimental group	Duration	Study Design	Total Subjects	Control	Experimental
SMS
Ybarra et al. [37]	2012	Turkey	Text messaging	Control arm received a brochure that provided similar information about smoking cessation	The text messaging intervention, 6 weeks of daily messages aimed at giving participants skills to help them quit smoking	3 months	Randomized control trial	151	75	76
White et al. [42]	2013	Thailand	Counseling and SMS	Smoking-cessationcounseling	Counseling and text message reminders	6 months	Randomized control trial	215	69	132
Lin et al. [33]	2023	China	Text message for smoking cessation	A non-personalized text message that encouraged, practical advice to help maintain cessation and health effects of smoking	Text message for smoking cessation having personalized messages i.e. 1 to 2 text messages per day for 3 months through the app	6 months	Randomized control trial	722	362	360
Telephone, SMS
Guo et al. [44]	2014	Taiwan	Telephone, SMS	NA	Education, Acupressure, Telephone, SMS	4 month	Pre-post study	143	65	78
Chan et al. [10]	2015	Hong Kong	Telephone, SMS	No SMS and Telephone	Telephone call with 5-min nurse-led telephone counseling within seven days after enrolment 8 text messages	12 months	Randomized control trial	1003	330	Tel= 338 SMS= 335
Social Media
Cheung et al. [35]	2015	Hong Kong	WhatsApp and Facebook	Smoking cessation self-help booklet	Online group discussion for 2 months by a trained smoking cessation counselor either WhatsApp or Facebook along with a smoking cessation self-help booklet	6 months	Randomized control trial	WhatsApp 42 Facebook 40	54	WhatsApp= 42 Facebook= 40
Durmaz et al. [39]	2019	Turkey	WhatsApp application	Usual care by physicians trained on quitting tobacco by giving either a motivational interview or a quitting counseling	WhatsApp application added to the usual care (Usual care by physicians trained on quitting tobacco by giving either a motivational interview or quitting counseling)	6 months	Randomized control trial	132	88	44
Luo et al. [31]	2022	China	WeChat-“Quit Smoking Help"	No SMS	Intervention group 1 for 2 weeks received a total of 20 smoking-related while intervention group 2 similarly for 2 weeks received 20 smoking-related messages along with an additional week of additional messages for oral health	4 weeks	Randomized control trial	403	132	271
wang et al. [34]	2019	China	Chat-based instant messaging support	Face-to-face smoking cessation by smoking cessation ambassadors	Face-to-face smoking cessation by smoking cessation ambassadors and additionally Chat-based cessation support via WhatsApp messages	6 months	Randomized control trial	1185	594	591
Luk et al. [36]	2023	Hong Kong	Personalized chat messages via WhatsApp on relapse prevention	Standard treatment for smoking cessation (behavioral support, NRT, bupropion, and varenicline)	Standard treatment for smoking cessation (behavioral support, NRT, bupropion, and varenicline) with additional chat messaging on via WhatsApp for smoking relapse prevention	3 months	Randomized control trial	108	54	54
Chu et al. [32]	2023	China	WeChat and quitline (WQ)	NA	WeChat and quitline (WQ) with a quitline and three WeChat-based cessation services	NA	Prospective cohort study	2221	NA	NA
Telephone
Huang et al. [2]	2016	China	Telephone counseling intervention	NA	Telephone counseling intervention	3 months	Pre-post study	107	NA	NA
Wu et al. [27]	2016	China	Individual Face-to-face counseling along with telephone counseling	Face-to-face individual counseling	Individual Face-to-face counseling along with telephone counseling	6 month	Non-randomized study	570	117	340
Cheung et al. [28]	2021	China	Telephone	Brief intervention on consuming vegetables and fruit	Received 30-s advice from a physician followed by brief booster advice via telephone	12 months	Randomized control trial	10122	6656	3466
Smartphone
Nomura et al. [45]	2019	Japan	Internet-based video counseling (Telemedicine counseling) with CASC smartphone app	Face-to-face clinic visits with CASC smartphone app	Internet-based video counseling (Telemedicine counseling) with CASC (CureApp Smoking Cessation) smartphone app	6 months	Randomized control trial	115	57	58
Liao et al. [29]	2022	China	CBT-based smoking cessation intervention via a smartphone app	NA	CBT-based smoking cessation intervention via a smartphone app	33 days	Pre-post study	180	90	90
Chulasai et al. [40]	2022	Thailand	Pharmacist counseling with Quit US smartphone app	Face-to-face and group counseling for smoking cessation counseling by pharmacists Smoking Cessation	Pharmacists’ smoking cessation counseling, by downloading and installing Quit with US app on smartphones	12 weeks	Randomized control trial	273	136	137
Liao et al. [30]	2022	China	Text messaging intervention (‘Happy Quit’)	1 non-interventional message/week	Text messaging intervention (‘Happy Quit’) having a high-frequency messaging (HFM, 3 to 5 messages/ day)and low-frequency messaging (LFM, 3 to 5 messages /week)	6 months	Randomized control trial	1369	411	958
Asayut et al. [41]	2019	Thailand	Pharm Quit: a smartphone app for smoking cessation	Usual smoking cessation services	Pharm Quit: a smartphone app for smoking cessation	6 months	Randomized control trial	156	78	78
Miscellaneous
Shukr et al. [23]	2023	Jordan	Tobacco smoking-related media messages	NA	Tobacco smoking-related media messages	3 years	Longitudinal study	2174	NA	2174
Choi et al. [47]	2018	South Korea	Web-based e-learning program	NA	Blended learning e-learning program and face-to-face learning program (Web-based e-learning program consisted of 10 courses, each 30-min)	5 weeks	Quasi-experimental design	44	21	23
Koyun et al. [38]	2019	Turkey	Web-based education manual	NA	Web-based educational intervention	6 months	Interventional pre-post study	314	-	314
Wang et al. [43]	2010	Taiwan	Multimedia	Auricular acupressure	Auricular acupressure plus multimedia instruction	10 weeks	Quasi-experimental study	64	32	32
Ismail et al. [48]	2021	Indonesia	Audiovisual Health education on smoking	Health education on the risks of smoking for 15–20 min	Health education intervention using audiovisuals for 4-5 min by videos for different groups i.e. Group 1: Risks of smoking); group 2: Smoking law; group 3: Risk of developing cancer caused by smoking	NA	Quasi-experimental study	152	38	38 × 3

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Data availability statement

Data are not publicly available but may be accessed upon request.